Final Year at USC

I cannot believe that senior year has already started. I still remember coming to campus for orientation before the beginning of freshmen year. I never knew at the time that I would have such amazing experiences or enjoy this part of my life so much. It is sad to think that this is my last year at USC, but before I graduate, I still have two semesters of classes I have to pass…

This fall semester has been a lot of fun so far! During the first week of classes, I went with the Trojan Marching Band to Hawaii for the USC vs. Hawaii football game. I have been looking forward to this trip since I was a freshman, and I can’t believe how much I had:). It was so nice to be able to relax and enjoy the sun and sand. I haven’t been to Hawaii in a while, and I definitely missed it. The best part about the trip is that we won the game! My favorite thing I did in Hawaii was hiking up Diamond Head. The view from the top is amazing and it was neat to look all over the island. It was a great trip and I was happy to be able to enjoy it with my friends.

Then, when I got back from Hawaii, I realized that I’m still a college student, and that I still have classes to take this semester… My class schedule is very unusual. Unlike most semesters, where I will have class between 3-5 hours a day, with classes being held on Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays or Tuesdays and Thursdays, I only have class around 2-3 hours a day, with most classes being held once a week. It is a huge adjustment to take in a week’s amount of information in one lecture, but I am slowly getting used to it. I think that my brain works better with a regular schedule, but I am making it work.

On Mondays, I have my CHE 444b lab class, where we perform experiments directly related to Chemical Engineering concepts, and then write up full lab reports detailing those experiments. I really enjoy this class for two reasons: I like the different pace of not being in a lecture environment, and I enjoy practicing writing up professional-level reports. I want to end up in a research & development position, so writing up these lab reports is a great way for me to get an idea of what life would be like as a research engineer.

On Tuesdays, I have my General Education class and my Drilling Technology & Subsurface Methods class. My General Ed class is called GEOL 241 – Energy Systems. This class is all about analyzing the different sources of energy society utilizes today and how our energy decisions today will affect society in the future. I find this class fascinating, because even though its not a technical class, I think examining the state of our energy system is extremely important. In the next 100 years, I believe that energy will be the most important issue in the world. Therefore, I think that the faster people come to terms with the facts about what to do with our current energy layout, the better off we will be as a global society. My petroleum class that I have at night is all about analyzing the subsurface in order to understand and develop the best plan for drilling. Some of this content was briefly touched on when I went to Schlumberger’s FIELD camp, and it definitely captivated my interest. I am curious to learn more about how they drill in ways to maximize hydrocarbon recovery.

On Wednesdays, I have my Heat Transfer class. Lecture has been very interesting so far, because a lot of the equations and problem-solving techniques parallel those of my Viscous Flow class I took this past semester. So far, the professor, Dr. Gupta, has been really enjoyable and I look forward to the rest of this semester in the class.

Finally, on Thursday, I have my Computer-Aided Process Design class. This class is effectively taking concepts of reactor design and applying them to a computer software setting, in which a reactor can modeled and simulated through a piece of software called PRO/II. We were just introduced to the software recently, so I don’t think that this will be the last time you hear me talking about this class.

Like I said, this semester looks like it will be very enjoyable. My class schedule is on the light side, because of my involvement in the marching band. Hopefully, I can do well in my classes and focus on my graduate school applications and job applications!